Beer tap adapter



Nov. 16, 1937. J. MCADAMS BEER TAP ADAPTERy Filed Sept. 26, 1935 Patented Nov. 16, 1937 um'lEn stares emes-T7 orties;

3 Claims.

This invention relates to means for drawing beer from barrels, kegs or the like, and is particularlyintended as an adapter or attachment to be used in connection with beer tapsor as a part '5 of such taps. Taps are well known and aremade inra variety of forms. 'Ihey provide means for admitting air or gas under pressure to the barrel for forcing out thebeer or other liquid and also provide means for inserting a tube or pipe commonly, known vasa rtapl rod orV tube intoV the fbarrel .for lwithdrawing the beer therefrom, .such tubev being usually connected ywith a pipe or hose leading to thecooler. 'Ihe pipes or conduits leadn ing from the beer barrel, including vthe cooling 10Vcoils, shouldbe Vfrequently,cleaned in order to providegood clean beer. It is possible to vclean thecoils even whenv the beer-.barrel isA under pressure, by shutting 01T vthe tap rod valve and disconnecting .thehos,e. therefrom. Consequently zocthisis `often .done and the tap rod `is left without cleaning forindei ini te, periods. In accordance with the, present invention I provide means whereby the tap rod or tube may be inserted into therbarrelor withdrawn therefrom when the barrel is under pressure, without losing the pressure or permitting the discharge of any appreciable amount of the contents of the barrel.

The objects ofV this invention are to provide an improved adapter or device for accomplishing the above purposes in a simple and eicient manner; to provide an adapter or attachment which may be readily applied to beer taps such as are now l in Vcommon use which may becheaply made and which will be ecient in permitting the insertion and Withdrawal of the tap rod without losing pressure; to provideV a beer tapadapter for the purposes set forth which will have comparatively few parts and which will have a relatively smooth and unobstructed interior so that bacteria will not be apt to collect therein andalso so that the device may be readily cleaned or sterilized and to provide such other advantages and improvements as will appear more fully hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating a commercial form of my invention,

Figure 1 is a side view showing a barrel and tap with my adapter applied thereto, parts being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a side view showing the parts in pov sition after the tap rod has been removed; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FigureV 1.

'Ihe barrel 4 is shown with a tap 5 of any ordinary or preferred form of construction, this tap having the usual side connection 6 and hose or pipe 'I for supplying air orgas under pressure to the interior of the barrel. The tap also has va locking nut 8 for attaching it to the barrel fitting and is provided with a threaded portion 9 for', Y

receiving a packing washer or gasket I0 and nut:` 6 or gland II having a handle I2 for turning the same. n

The tap rod or tube I3 ordinarily extends downwardly through the tap to approximately,i s the bottom of the barrel when the tap is in oper- 10 ative position anda tight closure or connection is made between the upper end 9 of the tap and the rod by vmeans of the gland and packing I0.

In accordance with my invention I provide -am valve body or fitting I4 ,which is threaded at I5 'to 15 engage with the threaded upper end 9 of the tap. The upper end of the valve or adapter body yI4 is recessed at It to receive the packing Ill-and is provided with a. shoulder I'I for engagement with the packing. The upper end yis also .threaded at- I8 tov receive the Vmit or. gland II as readily4 seen from Figure 1. When my adapter is appliedto theusual tapk the packing or washer I0 .andnut II are removed from the tapand placed inthe upper end of the body as shown. 25

The tap rod I3 may then be inserted through the valve body I4 and the tap and into the barrel in the usual manner and the packing be tightened in order to prevent any leakage around the rod.

In order to prevent discharge of gas or liquid A from the barrel, the valve body has a valve seat I9 at the top thereof which is adapted to be engaged by a ball 20 when the valve rod is removed. The ball 20 may be made of cork rubber, rubber composition or any other suitable material, pref- 35 erably of a light and yielding character so that it may be readily forced against the seat I9 by the gas pressure.

The valve body I4 has a lateral projection 22 which forms a side chamber or recess for receiving the ball 20 when it is out of closing position. Curved side rails or guides 2l serve to guide the ball from its closing position as shown in Figure 2, to its normal or inoperativeposition as shown in Figure 1. The projection 22 is threaded to 45 receive a plug 23 to close the opening through which the ball or valveV 20 may be inserted and removed as for cleaning or the like.

When the keg 4 is tapped and the tap rod I3 inserted in theusual manner the packing I0 is 50 tightened andV air or gas under pressure may be admitted through the supply pipe or hose 1, thus placing pressure on the contents of the barrel. The beer or other contents of the barrel may then be drawn 01T through the tap rod and out through 55 the pipe being controlled by the valve 24. When it is desired to clean the tap rod or conduits connected therewith, the packing may be loosened and the rod withdrawn and ther-eupon the pressure on the ball or valve 2Q will cause it to move up the guideway and engage with the seat I9, thus immediately closing the outlet of the barrel and preventing the escape of gas or pressure. In order to insure the upward movement of the ball when the rod is removed, it will be noted that the bore through the fitting is made but little larger than the rod so that the gas entering at the bottom of the bore will immediately strike or act upon the ball 20 to force the same upwardly against the valve seat. In actual practice I have found that the valve will close with as loW as ve pounds pressure in the barrel even when using balls formed of rubber or rubber composition. After the rod has been cleaned it may be returned and the ball will be pushed away from the seat and into the lateral part of the chamber so that the rod may pass down into the barrel in the usual manner.

It will be readily seen that by means of my improved adapter or control device the tap rod may be removed and replaced at any time Without losing pressure in the barrel or container. 'While I have shown a preferred and operative embodiment of my invention it will be noted that changes may be made in the same to adapt the device to different forms of taps or for other conditions or purposes or th-e tap and my improvement may be combined in one structure, and therefore I do not Wish to be limited to the exact construction herein shown and described except as sp-ecied in the following claims, in which I claim: f

l. Means for use with a tapping tube for beer barrels to prevent escape of gas when the tube is withdrawn, comprising a substantially tubular tting having a central bore, means at one end of said tting for connecting it with the barrel, means at the opposite end of the fitting for making a tight closure between the fitting and the tube, said tting having a lateral projection providing a recess for a valve ball said recess being open at the outer end thereof, means for closing the outer end of the recess, a valve seat at the upper end of the bore through said tting, a valve ball in said fitting, and integrally formed curved guide members for guiding the ball from its normal inactive position in said recess to the valve seat when the ball is moved upwardly by gas pressure, the arrangement being such that the ball may be readily removed for cleaning or replacement without removing the tube from the tting.

2. A device of the character set forth, comprising a body portion adapted to be attached to the outlet of a barrel exteriorly thereof and having an opening therethrough for permitting the insertion and removal of a tapping tube, said opening being enlarged at one side only to provide a valve chamber, a spherical valve member mounted in said chamber and adapted to close said opening, said chamber having a hole in the side thereof for inserting and removing the valve member, a closure plug for said hole, and integrally formed means in said body for guiding the valve member from open position to closed position.

3. A device for the purposes set forth, comprising a valve body formed of a single casting having threads at one end for engagement with a beer tap and having a recess at the opposite end, packing in said recess, a threaded gland engaging with threads in said recess for tightening the packing, said body having a longitudinal passageway for receiving the usual tap rod, said passageway being slightly larger than the rod, a valve seat at the upper end of the passageway, integrally formed curved guides in said body, a ball valve engaging with said guides and adapted to engage with the valve seat, said body having a lateral chamber for receiving the ball valvevvhenv4 in open position and having a hole in the side thereof for inserting and removing said ball valve, and a plug for closing said hole.

JAMES MCADAMS. 

